


(res)Training

by cheyenn3



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Banter, F/M, Feels, JUST KISS ALREADY, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Protectiveness, Romance, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheyenn3/pseuds/cheyenn3
Summary: When teaching the Detective supernatural combat, Adam shares a moment with her. This emotional control thing is going to be much harder than he thought.
Relationships: Detective/Adam du Mortain, Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	(res)Training

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in book 2, and is the solo route Adam with the more obvious yearning we see in the love triangle.

Dinah has just finished wrapping her hands in bandages. Now she’s just in a black sports bra (shirt discarded in a corner) and combat trousers, braided hair tied back in a messy bun, mock punching into the air beside Adam.

It takes everything in him to tear his eyes away from the sight of the lines of her terracotta torso deepening and relaxing with each movement, her eyebrows furrowed in mock focus as she imitates fighting sound effects. A light punch she aims at Adam’s shoulder is what it takes to snap him out of his trance.

“So, Agent. How do you like to fight? You a hair puller?”, Dinah quips brazenly, as she tries - poorly - to hold back a smile.

“I am a Tier 10 supernatural who has been an expert in combat for centuries, Detective. I would not resort to such tactics,” he retorts, voice restrained and level.

This time her aim brushes against his bare bicep, and the vampire swallows imperceptibly, thankful that Dinah doesn’t possess hypersenses which would allow her to detect the spark of heat she evokes from him.

Her smile widens in challenge.“More of a trash-talker then?”, she teases, aiming once more for his shoulder.

Within a split second, her wrist is engulfed in his grip, mere millimetres away from his shoulder. He feels her pulse quickening in his hold, almost as quick as his own heartbeat which by now was pounding inside his chest, having to dampen his senses to prevent the sensation from overwhelming him.

He doesn’t release her for a long second but upon realising this he promptly drops her wrist. He can’t have his focus drift to how his feelings for the detective have only intensified since they started working with each other again. Not now.

“Please take this combat session seriously, Dinah. I-We can’t be having you get hurt in the field,” he responds, a note of pleading entering his voice.

The scene of Dinah unconscious and bleeding in the rain, arm mauled and eyes closed flashes in his mind, but he bats the image away with a quickness. No matter the amount of times she insists it’s not his fault, it still weighs on his mind deeply. To Dinah, it seems regret at a mission gone wrong, but Adam would let any number of missions go wrong if it meant he’d never have to see her in that state again.

Not needing to say it aloud, Dinah nods, obviously remembering the same thing. Without thinking Dinah’s fingers wander to the scar on her wrist, and his heart pangs.

“I just want you to talk to me Adam,” she mutters under her breath, her deep brown eyes glistening under thick lashes. “We've already done research with each other, but I know you want me to sharpen up my combat, so here I am, aren't I?”

His piercing, viridescent gaze meets hers and softens.

“I hope I can satisfy your expectations, in that case.”

He briskly looks away.

“Throw a punch at me - seriously - and we’ll go from there Detective.”

Concentration lines Dinah’s face as she uses her years worth of combat training to assess where is best to aim. Adam watches her gaze move down his body and inhales sharply, never having felt as exposed as he does right now. 

Dinah angles her arm to punch, but suddenly stops and looks up at him, almost as if asking for permission.

“I can take any hit you throw at me, Detective. There is no need for your hesitation. You won’t be able to do that in a real fight.”, he insists

Nodding in acknowledgement, her fist flies in the air to where the vampire is standing - but not before he takes full advantage of his abilities and uses his super speed to warp behind Dinah, resting both hands loosely on the sides of her arms.

Her head fits perfectly under his chin, and the tropical smell of her shampoo wafts to his nostrils, making him tense. He can feel Dinah’s skin heating up under his fingertips, and he averts his eyes from her to the ceiling, to try and slow his own racing heartbeat.

The next time he looks down Dinah is looking up at him with a pout.

“That’s not fair. How was I supposed to know you’d go all warp-speedy on me?”

Adam rolls his eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting all the same.

“You think in a physical confrontation with a supernatural they’d refrain from using their full abilities on you?”

“I hope so.”

Adam smiles truly and gently for a brief second, before realising his position.

Their eyes meet, and for a temporary moment they just take each other in, lips slightly parted and breathing heavy, her back to his chest and their faces just inches apart

It would be so easy for him to break the gap and give into temptation, finally breaking the tension that had been swirling around the two of them ever since they’d first met.

What had first manifested as a loose string unexplainably linking the two had over time become more wound up and taut to a point where at this point pulling away from her would be agonising - it is agonising - and for a man who prides himself on his ability to stay level headed and focused, it’s been so much more difficult for him to do that as of late. His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat.

Dinah lifts a tawny hand to Adam’s cheek. It’s late afternoon now, so it’s slightly stubbled, golden flecks adding texture to his sharp jaw, illuminated by the harsh white lights of the facility. He shivers slightly but doesn’t pull away from her touch.

The ever persistent Dinah wants to see how far he’ll let the moment go. She takes her manicured thumb and drags it across his jaw, and it eventually lands on his bottom lip, tugging his mouth the slightest bit open. She looks back in his eyes for his reaction, but his green gaze is now on her lips, and he can feel her breaths get slower and heavier.

“Can I-”

He gives a short nod, curt and urgent, body betraying what he can’t bring himself to say.

Their faces inch closer to each, full of want and longing, breath hot on each other’s skin as they close their eyes and lean in.

A quivering sensation travel’s up Dinah’s thigh.

It’s her phone.

“I’ve got to-”

“Of course, Detective.”

Registering his position, he clears his throat and extricates her from his grasp, his composure quickly returning.

He watches as Dinah walks over to a corner of the room for privacy, releasing a frustrated curse under her breath - not like that mattered, for Adam’s sharp senses pick it up anyway. 

What could he have been thinking, letting himself get so carried away like that? Adam hasn't had shared a moment like that with anyone in almost a millennia, yet when letting go oh her had felt like being torn apart. His job is to protect her and help her protect herself, but a connection like this would only leave the two of them more vulnerable, a vulnerability he hasn't felt and has been actively rejecting for a long time. 

The Agency has been all Adam has needed to rely on for a long time, but realising that the idea of not having Dinah by his side would crush him makes a crease form between his brows. 

He purposefully averts his focus from her as she frowns picking up the call, exchanges a few clipped, irritated words to a male voice before dropping the call abruptly and walking back.

“Sorry. It was my e-” She pauses, chewing on her words. This is the most vulnerable she’s ever seen Adam, and after all of this work she'd rather not have him retreat into his shell of detatchment any further.

“It was a reporter.”

He nods in acknowledgement, catching her slip up put choosing not to dwell on it right now. But he will.

“Shall we proceed?” he asks, voice restrained and level once more.

Dinah sighs quietly. The moment is gone. “Sure.”

And the session continues, full of fleeting touches and looks, the tension left unbroken for another day.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I did laugh at writing 'Adam's Apple'


End file.
